Iran

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: As I said in my State of the Union address ensuring the security of the United States and the safety of our people demands a smart, patient and disciplined approach to the world. That includes our diplomacy...

Less than 24 hours after reports of their detention emerged, 10 U.S. Navy personnel have been freed by Iran. The sailors left an Iranian naval base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday morning, along with the boats they were operating when they were taken into custody.

"There are no indications that the sailors were harmed during their brief detention," the Department of Defense says, confirming the release of nine men and one woman.

Iranian state TV announced that all 10 U.S. sailors held since Tuesday in Iran have been freed. The Pentagon has confirmed the report, and says there are no indications that the sailors were harmed during their detention.

Original Post:

Ten sailors were detained by Iranian authorities on Tuesday as they sailed from Kuwait to Bahrain aboard two small riverine patrol boats.

It's the story of a historic nuclear agreement — a story we may be tempted to think we know. After all, Congress just finished a chaotic debate that ended when lawmakers failed to block the deal. There was no solemn national moment of decision — no up-or-down vote, as with a treaty or a war.

But this was just the latest twist in a long and complex tale that dates back more than a half-century.

HOUSTON — Texas investigators have uncovered a hit list in the case of a Jordanian man accused of fatally shooting a female Iranian activist, prosecutors said Friday.

The disclosure came during a court hearing for Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh, 37, who with her husband, Ali Awad Mahmoud Irsan, are charged in the 2012 death of activist Gelerah Bagherzadeh. Investigators say Irsan was enraged Bagherzadeh helped his daughter, who considered her a best friend, abandon his stern Islamic teachings and marry Coty Beavers, a Christian.

Prosecutors told State District Judge Jan Krocker that Alrawabdeh was in the front passenger seat of the family car on the night Irsan killed Bagherzadeh, 30, as she drove toward her parents’ home in January 2012. They also say Alrawabdeh overheard Irsan’s harassing telephone calls to Bagherzadeh.

Irsan, 57, is charged with capital murder in the slayings of the activist and Beavers, who was found shot dead in the apartment he shared with Irsan’s daughter, Nesreen Irsan, in November 2012.